The dancer and the monster
by Medea678
Summary: Being a gypsy in Ylisstol is hard. Especially for Inigo, a street dancer who finds himself trapped in the Cathedral. As he tries to find a way out, he comes across a peculiar character, a strange plot against the princess and a few secrets about his past. Gerome x Inigo. Rated M mostly for violence.
1. Inigo I

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fire emblem, its characters or any other element of it used in this story.**

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><p><strong>Inigo I<strong>

Ylisstol was quite dirty in its streets. People and chariots constantly went from one side to the other, making the earth from the floor fly around like a big mist. It was no wonder people talk about how sometimes it was impossible to even breathe in the city. But that didn't stop me. No matter how dirty or crumbled it could get, if I wanted to make money I had to go out and dance.

The funny thing was that if I became aware of how many people were looking at me, I would get nervous and start failing. It had taken me forever to let anyone (even my mother) to see me. However, from time to time, I would discreetly look at the bag I had left on the floor for the crowd to throw coins in. And judging by the number of coins I saw, many people ought to be pleased by my dance.

But I didn't let my mind wander off. After all, I wasn't just doing it for the money. I loved dancing and my mother said there's nothing better than the satisfaction of showing people what you love. She had taught me everything I knew. I knew the order of every step, spin and twirl, so as long as I was concentrated, I couldn't miss them. My lace accompanied my every move as I made it fly around me.

From the morning to now when the sun was starting to set, I repeated my dances in different parts of the city. Though many people, especially the authorities didn't appreciate people like me and my companions, as we were gypsies, most couldn't deny that we brought entertainment to their lives. And, in my case, my activity wasn't suspicious at all. I mean, I wasn't like Severa who challenged men to beat her for a date and make the guys lose their many by any means possible. I didn't force anyone to pay me, in fact, people could simply look at me and not give me a coin for it!

I was reaching his limit as I got closer to the ending. That was no wonder, seeing how I had done this all day. All though dancing looks fun, it requires a lot of energy. I jumped backwards and landed on my feet, letting go of the lace and leaving it to fall on my arms. As soon as I had finished, I began to hear the clapping and cheering of his audience. I had actually gotten a good number of people to watch me to the end this time. It was embarrassing, but I manage to make a small reverence, as people leaved, as a sign of gratitude. Mother used to say you should always thank your audience at the end, even if you're too shy to just say 'thank you'. I then went to retrieve the bag I had left. It had been a long day, but it was worth it for I had managed to get a lot. Maybe I could buy some new shoes. It was a real pain to dance barefooted.

"Hey, you!" I heard a woman's voice yell. When I looked, I saw a group of five guards coming towards me. When they stopped, the one who had spoken stepped forward. "It's past the curfew, gipsy. You're not allowed to be on the streets now." If not for her voice, I couldn't have possibly tell she was a woman. Not only her looks, but she was even taller than most of the men beside her!

However that wasn't the issue. I was in some serious trouble if I couldn't get out of this one.

"I'm really sorry, my lady. I was just going on my way." I said smiling. With any luck, she had a soft spot for beautiful delicate dancers like me.

"It's ma'am to you." Or maybe not. "What you have there?" she asked, pointing at my bag.

"This?" I didn't like where this was going. "It's just the money I made today. Surely someone as keen as you saw all the people who were enchanted by my dance." I started to say things like this whenever I'm nervous and, by the look of this lady, it wasn't helping.

"Keep flattering me. I can assure you I'll go easier on you if you do." She really didn't have to be THAT sarcastic. "So you were 'working' even after the curfew." She said as a smile started to appear on her face. "And how do I even know that you didn't steal it?"

"WHAT?!" I yelled. This definitely wasn't looking the least bit pretty. "How can you say that? You saw me dancing and the people giving me money, didn't you?!"

"I didn't see them." she said with her face completely calm. "Did you guys saw this people?" she asked to the men behind her. Obviously, they shocked their heads. "So we have a possible thief here who just admitted to have been working after the curfew." As she said this, she started to approach me and I walked backwards, bumping into the wall. Her men, on the other hand, were making a circle around us. "I think you should accompany us to the palace until we can… clear all of this. Don't you?"

When she tried to reach me with her hand, I threw earth at one of the guards, blinding him for a moment. Before they could react, I knocked down the guy and ran for the street as if my life depended on it. And it did.

I had to stop as I found chariots moving at full speed in front of me, but I could hear their footsteps and voices getting closer every second. By who I preferred to be squashed? That woman or a chart? I took a deep breath and lunged myself into the street.

I dodged each one of them, but I couldn't avoid losing my lace as it got struck in a wheel. There went a whole month of savings. As I got out, I looked back and saw that they were not far behind. The woman had manage with a scream to make all the traffic stop! Seriously, it looked like this woman could break through a wall, if she needed, just to catch me.

So I took off running as I thought where to go. I was too far from the camp and, even if I outran these guys, I would just get deeper into the city. That would mean running into even more guards. There was only one place I could turn to and so I took full speed as I turned to another street.

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><p>No matter how many turns I took, the woman's voice never seemed to get father away, as she didn't waste a minute without telling me how much I would regret escaping. That and a couple of things she would do to me with her javelin. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry to the fact that she seemed so serious about it.<p>

Finally, I came out to my destiny: the Cathedral of Ylisstol. I had seen it many times from afar, but it was the first time that I actually stood in the Cathedral's square. I didn't have any time to appreciate the building anyway, as I rushed faster than ever towards the doors which were getting closed by a young priest.

"Please, don't close!" The priest just then looked at me with a curious look. "Sanctuary!" I yelled. The priest then stood aside and let me enter, closing the doors behind him.

As I entered the great hall, I couldn't help but to feel all the exhaustion reach my body. My legs were tired from dancing all day and I had to sum the running too. Before I could react, they got limp and I fell to the ground. Fortunately, he priest was able to catch me before I hit it, but, just then, the doors busted open.

"Had him over!" yelled the woman.

The priest just looked at her without any hint of fear on his face. "Can't do it, Kjelle. He just asked for sanctuary."

Only then I noticed the strange looks the man had, especially for a priest. He had a rather hard face (with a scar at the side, nevertheless) and his tone had been anything but polite. Not to mention the orange hair, but, as my own hair was blue, I couldn't really say anything about it.

"The Cathedral should have been closed by the time he reached it. Now stand aside, Brady, or I will take him by force." said the woman, apparently named Kjelle, as she approached us with a fierce look. I then felt how Brady's hand was twitching and realized he was no match for her. My luck was just great, but I couldn't blame him for fearing her.

"I don't remember to have instructed my guards to show such a lack of honor in a holy place, captain Kjelle." said another voice.

As I looked to where it came from, I saw two persons coming towards us. One looked like a young man in his twenties, with short black hair, who wore a guard's armor with the addition of a cape that flung behind him. The other looked like a beautiful woman with long blond hair, but, as she approached, I noticed that she was wearing a priest robe; so she was definitely a he. I met a woman who looks like a man and a man who looks like a woman, all the same day. I didn't know if that was a good sign or a bad one. But I had to admit that this priest was much more… "priestlike" than the other. While he didn't look old, he gave the feeling of a much wiser and older person than anyone in the room. And there was also this air around him that seemed to transmit peace as he walked.

"Commander Owain, bishop Libra," began to say Kjelle and I noticed the respect in her voice. "this is a gypsy fugitive. He was out after the curfew and even attempted to escape when we approached him. He clearly…"

"He asked for the holy right of sanctuary which if his eminence, Bishop Libra, wants to grant him, you shall obey." said this man, Owain. While I was glad that he was defending me, couldn't he like speak more normal?

The other man (who, I guessed, was Bishop Libra) started at me with his deep blue eyes. I first felt tense, but soon I relaxed under his stare, to which the man smiled before looking back to Owain.

"I will grant it, captain. This seems like a nice boy."

Kjelle looked completely vexed. "Alright, but as soon as I see him outside, I will take him to the palace to answer for his crimes." After that she said goodbye to both the commander and the bishop, absolutely ignoring Brady and me.

"I can't believe how awfully serious she takes her job." said I when she left.

"That might be truth, but ya got yourself in this on ya own!" Brady told me, completely stunning me. What kind of priest talked like that? "Ya know about the curfew, so why did ya ignore it?"

"I can't help it! Whenever I dance I lost track of time!" I said.

"Dance?" asked both Owain and Brady.

"Yes…" I said, realizing what I had said and getting quite bashful about it. "I work as… a street dancer." It didn't take much of a second for the two men to start laughing their asses off, while I deeply wished for the earth to swallow him.

"I don't think is very well-educated on the part of you two to laugh like that about someone else's job." said bishop Libra.

The two men quickly stopped. I couldn't help but notice that while the blond man was calm and smiling when he said that, there was something downright intimidating about his smile. He then approached me and gave me a hand to get up.

"Forgive these two. As you have heard I'm bishop Libra and I'm in charge of the Cathedral. These two men are father Brady, my assistant, and commander Owain, from the guard of the city. What's your name, boy?"

"I'm…Inigo. A dancer, but…I just told you that."

"No need to be shy about It." the bishop said, smiling. "There´s quite some people staying in the Cathedral, so I think your dancing might bring them some entertainment."

"I would love to…" I said, trying to remember how to talk more politely. "But I can't stay here too long. I would leave tomorrow."

"That's impossible." said Owain. "Didn't you hear Kjelle? She would have you catch as soon as she sees you out of here. And, knowing her, she would have every exit of the Cathedral guarded all day."

"Look, the kid didn't do anything really." told him Brady. "Can't you just tell her to leave him alone?"

"She has enough against him to continue pursuing him." said Owain, looking quite stressed about it. "And, even if I did order her that, she would go to the chancellor and he would most likely give her permission to continue."

"In other words, ya're useless."

"Oww! You deeply wound me, my dear friend, with your ice-cold words! They are like daggers ripping through my soul!" said Owain, accompanying those words with a theatrical movement of his hands. Was this guy really the commander of the city guard?

"Is getting late, Brady." said bishop Libra. "Why don't you show our new guest his room?"

"Actually, if you don't mind," I said. "could I take a look around the Cathedral? I have never been here before."

Libra just smiled at me. "Of course. I would gladly give you a tour myself or have Brady give you one, but I need him to finish some paperwork in my office. Whenever you want to go to rest, just ask anyone for the refugee's chamber."

"Thank you, I will." I said, finally feeling more at ease around these people.

"Ah! But don't wander off too much!" said Libra suddenly. "Dinner should be ready soon. Speaking of which, Brady, would you mind going to the kitchen and ask Sumia to set another plate tonight?"

"Right away, bishop."

"Then I shall bid farewell for now." began to say Owain. "I would gladly escort you, but my duties now will take our steps through different paths that-…"

"Yeah, yeah. Tell Lucina I said hi." said Brady, leaving the black-haired man in the middle of his speech. After that, a very depressed looking Owain said good-bye to both the bishop and me before leaving.

"They are quite a pair, those two. Aren't they?" said the bishop laughing a bit. I laughed too, though not sure of how much he meant by that.

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><p>After Libra gave me some indications of the different parts of the Cathedral, I was finally let alone for a while. To be fair, I hadn't asked to tour because I wanted to. I really just wanted some time alone to think about what to do next. As I walked, I was not paying attention to the decorations around me, the beautiful images on the walls or even the cold floor on my naked feet. I wondered what will be everyone's reaction when I'll get back. Severa'll probably call me an idiot for having forgotten about the curfew and a weak for not being able to outsmart the guards. Flavia will not have much to say as long as I brought the money back. And Basilio'll laugh when he heard I got chased down by a woman. I wondered whatever they'll notice him gone. We had all been working hard the past few days to make money to buy the things we needed for the festival of the city.<p>

Wait. The festival will be in a few days and, during it, the guards will too busy guarding the princess to be concerned with me. I could try to sneak up from the Cathedral. Once inside the festival, I'll melt with the crowd and join the others. Once with them, they'll get me back to the camp. As expected from me, it's a fool's proof plan.

Just as I thought that, I heard the sound of something falling behind me. When I turned, I saw bits of rocks falling from one of the upper floors of the Cathedral and managed to see a shadowy figure dressed in black getting out of his sight as swiftly as possible. I got to see it however taking some stairs to the highest part of the building.

Full of curiosity, I looked around until I found some stairs that went up. Soon I was climbing them at full speed, completely forgetting about my previous fatigue. My body nevertheless was kind enough to remind me and I quickly found myself mostly crawling my way up. When I got to the floor where I had seen the figure, I went to the stairs it had taken.

Now, you might be wondering why a) I was following this person for no reason when I should clearly stay away from him/her; b) why I insisted on doing it when I already I had had such a long day; and c) wasn't it stupid to simply do this if I only wanted to leave this place quietly and not get into trouble?

Well, I guess since my day had already been so action-packed my mind simply couldn't resist the idea of jumping to yet another emotion. Truth is, I really didn't think through when I was doing this.

As I started to climb them, I noticed how dark it get it as I got higher. Less and less torches where pin to the wall to enlighten my way up, so I soon had to put a hand to the wall in order to orient myself. This was a spiral staircase that only seemed to go up, without connecting with other rooms. I was afraid that maybe it will take me to a locked door and that all my exercise climbing will have been in vain. But at the end of it, I found a dead-end with a wood ladder. Well, I guess Naga really wants to see me climbing today.

When I got out of there, I finally got a look to where I had come: an enormous room, with wood floor and gigantic windows on all four sides. Through the one in front of me, I could see the sun setting and coloring the whole sky orange. As I looked up, I saw several wood floors connected by ladders that went all the way up to the ceiling of the tower where a gigantic golden bell stood. Guess this must be the bell tower. I know, I'm very clever.

However, other things called my attention. Like the table and chair that stood on the side of the room; and the chest that was in another one; and the bed that stood in the other. All this indicated that someone definitely lived there, but it was obvious that, whoever it was, he didn't like company. But he had definitely taken those stairs, so he couldn't have gone anywhere else, so I tried to see if there was someone else in the room. I tried looking up to the other floors, but they were so dark that I couldn't make out anything.

I then heard a high "EEEK!" coming from behind me which also made him squeal and jump. I turned to see a small woman with long grey hair dressed in a white dress. She looked quite anxious about having found me there and I noticed she carried a tray with food.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" I quickly said. "I just arrived here and I thought I saw someone coming here… so I got curious and I…"

"Oh! It's alright! I should be the one apologizing!" said the woman. "You must be Indigo, right? The new boy? I'm Sumia."

"Actually it's Inigo. It's the same, but without the d." I said laughing a bit nervously. It wasn't the first time someone got my name wrong.

"My bad." she as she went and leaved the tray of food in the table. "Well, come with me, Inigo. Dinner is getting served and, with the day you had according to Brady, I'm sure you'll be hungry."

I was, though my body felt more tired than hungry and my mind was even more curious about the tower. As the woman started to guide me again back to the low floors, she suddenly tripped and went all the way down stairs falling. I screamed and ran after her and found her face down where I had first seen the strange figure.

"Are you all right?! Should I call somebody?!" I asked while helping her to get up.

"Oh! It's alright! Really!" she said, facing me with a smile. Her forehead was all red, but, apart from that, there were no signs of pain in her. "This happens to me all the time, so don't worry!"

I was still pretty shocked, but, as I accompanied her, I saw her trip at least three more times. Even with this, I couldn't help but feeling my heart jumping each time this happened.

"Inigo, could I ask you for something?" she said, stopping right before the door which, I guessed, went to the dining room.

"Yes?"

"Don't tell anyone about the tower."

I wanted to ask more, but Sumia simply opened the door without waiting for my response and went inside. So I simply followed her.

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><p><strong>AN: So, yeah, have a wild guess about what this is base on.**

**Not obvious yet? Wait until the next chapter.**

**Reviews of any kind are always appreciated here, specially if they concern grammar and such as I'm not a native english speaker!**

**Thanks a lot for reading!**


	2. Gerome I

**Attention to readers: you may noticed (if you read the story before I updated this chapter), that the style has changed. The thing is that, as I wrote this chapter, I just felt uncomfortable with how I was narrating the story. I then tried to write it in first person and it made all the difference. So from now on the story would in the first person of the characters. I also replaced the other chapter with a first person version. It really doesn't change and, if you read the original, you don't have to read it again. I personally find it more enjoyable, but that's just me. Anyway, sorry to bother you and thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy it! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fire emblem, its characters or any other element of it used in this story.**

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><p><strong>Gerome I<strong>

My only… "job" was to simply rang the bell. When the sun raised, I also did and I made the bell rang waking up the city and I did this each hour before the sun set. I had a sand clock to know when an hour passed. And like that, I spend each day with Minerva as my only companion. I could move around the Cathedral or even leave if I wanted to. But I didn't have any reason to. Besides, someone wearing a mask like I did was by no means going to be seen as normal. And, if I didn't use the mask, the reaction of the people wouldn't be much better. So I mostly stayed in the bell tower, which I liked to call "my room".

There were only three people who ever entered my room: my grandfather, Sumia and Cynthia. Cynthia came to bring me food for both breakfast and lunch and told me about her day. Though I usually ignored her, she didn't seem to mind. Sumia brought my dinner and only asked if I needed anything else; to which I said no, unless I needed laundry or blankets. My grandfather, on his part, never let two days past without paying me a visit. He usually talked with me for a bit or gave me a "request", as he called them. I was usually able to tell which one was by the way he greeted me.

Today had been no exception in the beginning.

Cynthia had come and invited herself to eat with me like she usually did. She went on talking about how many had come to the Cathedral for sanctuary lately; who they were and how much it sucked that they had to be chased. I didn't really listened to her, as I didn't particularly cared.

"I hope that the war will end soon. I heard there was another battle in Valm the other day."

Now, this interested me. "And how did it went?"

"King Chrom won obviously! You can't expect him to be beaten by that Walhart! He has the best soldiers in the world by his side!" she said cheerfully. "I wish he could come back soon. That chancellor is just making everyone miserable here!"

"You forget that is princess Lucina who reigns." I said without much emotion. Now that I knew that the king wasn't death, she had nothing more to tell me.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Yeah, right. Come on, Gerome! As soon as king Chrom left, that guy got the parliament in his pocket. The princess has no power now. I can't even imagine how he did that. He looks like such a wimp!"

That was her own fault, but I didn't even bother to voice that thought. The white-haired girl continued talking, but, after a while, she finally realized that I had no intention of talking. Then she left. I really wondered why she kept up with me after all this years. But, I really had to thank her for it, even if I didn't really showed it. However it was the best that she didn't get too much involve with me.

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><p>At noon, when I finished ringing the bell for that hour, I heard the sound of steps coming. I started to get down from the floor with the bell and found my grandfather entering the room.<p>

"Hello, Gerome. How are you feeling today?" the man asked with that creepy smile of his. I knew quite well why he had begun saying that. He had a request.

"I'm fine. What do you want of me?" I asked in a cold voice. Although the man was my grandfather and had taken care of me (so to speak) for the last ten years, I didn't really had any particular affection towards him. I knew how he saw me and that he knew that I did. And we were both quite okay with it.

"My, my. You don't have to be so rushed. Can't I simply chat with my grandson in peace?" he said, still smiling and sounding like he intended to make every word he said feel as false as he could.

"I'm not in the mood for chit-chatting. So, tell me, what do you want?"

The tall, thin man ignored me and simply went to sit himself at the table of the room. I followed and sat in front of him. I sometimes wondered if the man was really my grandfather. We looked nothing alike, except for our hair-style. Not to mention that he didn't look very human. His body was so thin that you'll wonder if he would break if he bent. His skin was such a weird color that you couldn't tell if it was because he had taken too much sun or if he took it at all. Not to mention that weird eyes of his. I had grown accustomed to them, but I wouldn't blame someone if he shit himself by starting at them.

Only then I noticed the basket he had brought. My grandfather took a book out of it and hand it to me. "Thought you may like something new to read."

"Thank you." I answered quietly while taking it. Indeed, it had been a while since I had something new to read. And I didn't have much else to do there when I wasn't ringing the bell or doing jobs for my grandfather.

"Now, as you correctly assumed, I have a request for you." the man said as if that was something new. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, tough the mask conveyed that. "There is a noble from the valmese kingdom of Rosanne who came all the way here asking for sanctuary for both him and his family in exchange of giving information about emperor Walhart's army. Princess Lucina has kept this from both the chancellor and the parliament and has hide him in a tavern. She plans on sending him to his father while she keeps his wife and daughter as hostages and claiming they were captured. That way neither the parliament, nor the chancellor can interfere."

Rosanne. That was where mother was born. "I don't care about all that. Just tell what you want."

"Kill him, but not his family. I'll reveal all this to the chancellor and make the rumor circulate. We can still use the wife and daughter as hostages, but I'm pretty sure that no one will be pleased by the situation. Or with the princess, for that matter." he said, smiling and looking quite delighted with the prospect. After that, he gave me the address where I had to go and left, without adding much.

I just stayed sitting for a bit. I felt Minerva's anger each time he came and her sadness when I agreed to do these jobs. But I had to. Not for my grandfather, but because I would do anything to help bring down the ylissiean royal family. It was my own personal vengeance and she had to understand that.

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><p>The rest of the afternoon went by the same as ever. I would ring the bell every hour and the rest of the time I would spend it getting things ready for the night or looking at the city. From the top of the cathedral, I could pretty much see everything that went on in the streets of Ylisstol. And years of looking had made me quite knowledgeable about the lives of many people.<p>

For example, there was the fisherman who went to fish everyday with his daughter at the river that cut the city. Recently, his daughter had stopped going with him and the man seemed to fish less day by day. I supposed that the daughter married and left the father.

Or there was that old hag that everyone in town seemed to go to when they had some sort of injury. Her house was always full, it seemed.

Or the beggar with one leg who, at the end of the day, went into an alley and came out with clean clothes and two legs.

Or the giant baker who once had knocked out someone who, apparently, didn't like his bread.

Or the merchant's wife who had a young boy in her house as soon as her husband left in a business trip. Once I had seen her enter the house with two and I knew very well that those weren't her sons.

But probably the most amusing thing to see were the gypsies. Nor that there were that many now, with all the laws the chancellor had put against them. But they were still in the city, doing all kinds of jobs and performances from the first time of the morning to the curfew which I sounded at seven. I didn't have any kind of special animosity towards them (or at least no more than the one I already had for most of the world), but I couldn't deny that both me and Minerva enjoyed watching their shows.

There was a particular group that seemed to entertain most of the city lately. Or I assumed they were a group as I saw them enter and leave the city together.

There was a black woman with blond hair who fought with a bear with just her hands to dominate him. And even though she always won and I had seen that the bear was actually just a huge man in costume (a bald black man), I could see that their fight was totally genuine. In fact, it was a wonder how the two of them didn't rip each other to pieces in each fight.

There was also this girl with long pigtails who challenged men to battle her. They had to bet money and, if they won, the girl was supposed to go on a date with them (or at least that was what Cynthia told me she had heard). She never lose, though I was sure she used a bit too many dirty tricks for this. Even so, she could jump and do so many acrobatics that it was no wonder that no man ever got as close to touch her.

It was kind of funny that in the same group of gypsies there was a young boy who worked alone dancing. You would think that the boy would be the one to fight and the girl the one who danced, but maybe it had to do with the fact that the boy's dancing was… quite appealing to look at. The boy didn't dance with little clothes as most street dancers did, although he used that lace that most dancers seemed to use. But his dancing seemed to have a kind of strange gracefulness. He moved with both such an energy and such a passion that it was difficult not to get entranced. And apparently I wasn't the only one who thought that, as there was always many people watching him all day. Minerva also seemed to like it; I could feel her happiness each time the boy danced where she could see him.

On that day however, after I had sounded the curfew, I went to look outside and saw that the boy had still hadn't started to go back. On contrary, he continued to dance. I didn't really cared about it; it wasn't my business whatever a gypsy I didn't knew was arrested or not. So I went on and decided to take a look at the book my grandfather had got me: "History of Ylissiean-Plegian Relationships"… Not that I didn't like to have a new book, but couldn't my grandfather had got me something more entertaining?

I had roughly started to read it, when suddenly a loud scream that sounded like "GET BACK HERE BEFORE I TAKE A JAVELIN AND SHOVE IT RIGHT UP YOUR…" made me look outside again. That female captain, that patrolled the city so much you'll swear the streets had been made by her walking, was chasing down the dancer boy with her men. It was amusing seeing how the boy tried to outsmart them, but the captain seemed to be one step ahead of him each time. I wondered if the gypsy would get out of this one, until I noticed that he was going in a particular direction.

Before I had even finish that line of thought, the boy was running across the Cathedral's square with his chasers not far behind. As I heard the sound of the doors of the Cathedral closing and then opening again, I concluded the boy had managed to get inside. I would lie if I said I wasn't curious to see what was going on downstairs; especially when the next more appealing thing was to read how the first war between Ylisse and Plegia had started when King "don't-know" had kidnapped King "don't-care's" daughter. So I put my black cloak on and started to get down.

When I arrived to the superior floor of the main hall, I saw that apparently the captain who pursued the dancer had left. That meant he most likely had asked for sanctuary. Instead, the boy was talking with bishop Libra, that rather strange-looking priest who was the bishop's new assistant (Brandy, I think) and that commander of the city watch who seemed to spend most of his time in the Cathedral following him (according to Cynthia). The other two left almost immediately, while the bishop instructed the boy a bit about the Cathedral. After that he left, the gypsy was alone in the great hall.

I decided to peek a bit more and saw that the boy actually had blue hair. Watching him from afar, I had always thought he had dark hair. He also looked even smaller than what I had imagine him to be, but that most definitely had to do with the fact that the boy was probably younger than what I had imagined.

But, as I watched, my foot kicked some bits of rocks that had fallen from the ceiling and they fell to the other floor making just enough noise to be noticed. The boy quickly spun on his feet and saw me. Almost instantly, I took off to the tower again, cursing all the way up for having been so little careful. And just to make things better, as I got up, I heard his steeps coming from behind me. Well, shit.

Having so little time, I went to the very top of the tower where the bell stood. At this hour, there was such a scare light that it was impossible to see a thing there. So I stood there and listened the steps of the boy as he went across my room. I had full vision of him, but he couldn't see me as he wondered through my room. However, he was dumb enough to think about looking up to where I was. My hand went to my belt and I took one of the knives I kept there. If he didn't leave soon, I would have to kill him. So I slowly started to move, getting myself ready to jump to the lower floor. The boy was just taking the stairs to get up and stretching his neck to get a better look. My knees bent and my hand tighten the grip on the knife.

And then I heard a scream, which I knew quite well, followed by another most definitely made by the gypsy. I had almost forgotten that it was time for Sumia to come here.

She was rather quick in getting the boy out of there. If she convinced him to stay quiet, maybe I wouldn't have to kill him. After all, I didn't wish to deprive Minerva from his dances. I did, however, learnt one more thing new about the boy. His name was Inigo.

But I didn't have much time to think about it. It was getting late and it was time for me to do the request. I already had my cloak and most of what I needed. So I just went to my chest to get some more things. My sword and a rope. I put the first one on my belt and tied the other to one of the exterior pillars.

"Wish me luck, Minervykins." I said, petting her head, before starting to climb down the Cathedral's wall, descending into the now dark and empty city.

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><p>The tavern was full. I hadn't expected that many people to go there at night, but I guessed that was what made it all the more a better place to hide someone. No one paid mind even to me, though the cloak really didn't stand out much there (I had seen at least three other guys with black cloaks like mine). The cloak also concealed most of my face, so my mask (which was bound to call attention to myself) was also hidden. So I just went to a corner in the bar and waited for the waitress to notice me.<p>

"What are you going to drink?" the woman finally asked. She was smiling and seemed nice enough, but I really wanted to get this done quickly.

"Nothing." I said in a low voice, but still loud enough for her to hear me. I had also taken the precaution that the men next to me was drunk-asleep. "I just need some information from you."

She clearly seemed to understand the situation and tried to get out of there. But she wasn't fast enough. I just grabbed her with one hand and put her close enough for her to see that my other hand had a knife. I could cut her throat before she got to scream and from the place we were it looked only as if she was leaning on me. No one in the bar was sober enough to notice or care and the others couldn't see me neither grabbing her, nor holding the knife.

"You took a family in today. Where are they staying?" I told her, making her come closer to me.

"In the s-s-second f-f-floor. It's the last r-r-room to th-e-e right." She said as tears started to appear in her eyes.

I let her go and got up to get there. She'll probably go and tell her boss, but it was unlikely that he would believe her. I had seen him and he was far too busy making sure that no one drank without paying first. And, even if he did, I would be out of there before they got to me.

So I went up and went straight to the last room to the right. I stood for a moment, hearing what apparently looked like a conversation inside and I recognized the voices of three persons, one male and two female. That confirmed my target. So I took my sword from its sheath and grabbed the hand-knob.

It all happened in a minute. I opened the door and closed behind me. There was a man with sky-blue hair standing in front of me, a woman with long black hair next to him and a girl with short hair, the same color as the man, sitting in one of the beds. Before any of them could react, I moved and stabbed the man on the chest. He didn't even screamed as he started to bleed. As I saw the life leaving his eyes, I took out my sword and he just fell to the ground.

I had planned to just leave as soon as I did this. I had expected the two women to just scream and look terrified. I hadn't expected the older woman to push me and then take a knife out of her belt. And dawn, was she fast. I barely moved enough to keep her from stabbing me in the throat. But she still got me on the shoulder. I shoved her and tried to get out of there, but she again came on to me and continued to attack me. It was pretty obvious that she wasn't going to let leave alive after killing her husband. So that meant I had only one way out. I grabbed the hand with which she held the knife and then stabbed her in the stomach. As soon as her hand let go of the knife, I let go of her and she fell to the ground.

I finally had my way clear, but the pain I suddenly felt in my shoulder kept me from reacting and leaving. As I looked up, I found another pair of eyes starting at me. The girl was now standing and holding her mother's knife pointing at me. She was shaking and she was definitely shitting herself with fear. But there was clearly as much fury in her eyes as there had been in her mother's. I had just to kill one of the two persons that I was meant to keep alive. I didn't wanted to kill the other.

I then noticed that there was a window on a wall that went to an alley. And it was big enough for me. So, as the girl finally launched herself at me, screaming, I evaded her and went straight to the window. With a push I got it to open, and, after a quick glance down, I threw myself through it. I landed on my feet, much to all my body thankfulness except theirs. I heard the voices of people coming into the room and what sounded like the girl screaming and crying. As I got my legs to move again, I took off through the street. I had to get back quickly and treat my wound.

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><p><strong>AN: So, yeah, I finally updated! I promise it won't take long before the next chapter. Just give me a week, please.**

**From now on, I will alternate between chapters from Inigo's perspective to Gerome's. But it won't be like in these ones where it was "how Inigo saw the situation", "how Gerome saw the same situation". The story will flow more from now on and I promise they will finally meet in the next chapter.**

**Thanks a lot for the reviews, follows and favs. I really didn't expect that many!**

**As always, still, any kind of criticism, comment, etc. is deeply appreciated. I would also like to know what you think about the change in style.**

**Thanks for reading! **


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